To College or Not?
As I said in my previous post, after I "graduated" Seth, this propelled him to action. Unbeknownst to us, he started thinking hard about his future and weighing out what his prospects were if he went on to college or if he did not.
In weighing everything out, he came to the conclusion that college might be the best choice, naturally speaking. But he also wanted to be sure it was the Lord’s will. So he spent a few weeks thinking and praying about it; he wrote Scriptures down on paper. He wanted to be sure that his motives and objectives for going to college were right.
Here are a few of his notes.
"I am thinking about college and I want to make sure it is the perfect will of God, and that I have the right motives.
Psalm 106:14-15 – Israel lusted for meat in the wilderness and God gave it to them but ‘sent leanness into their soul.’ I need to make sure my motive is right.
Luke 12:31 – I need to make sure that I seek first the kingdom of God.
Daniel 6:7-11 – It is okay to be successful in this life, but we must keep our priorities straight. Daniel prayed three times a day even though he ran a kingdom."
One evening he came to his dad and wanted to talk with him. He gave him the notes he had written down and asked his dad to pray about him going to college. Seth said he had been praying about God’s will but he knew that God could answer his prayer through his daddy too. Seth had prayed about it and felt it would be okay if he went on to college but he wanted to lay a fleece before the Lord that however his daddy felt he would take that to be the will of the Lord.
As homeschoolers, we’ve thought that if higher education was needed we could continue with long distance learning to obtain a bachelor’s degree. But in the field that Seth is interested in (Engineering) you have to be on-site. Whoa! The brakes came on. Russell wanted more time to think about it.
Russell (dh) has always felt that when the boys got old enough we would have a family home-building business. The boys found this appealing, too. But the real estate market is so flat that now is not the time to start a construction business. Russ has encouraged Seth to just continue researching college options as we try to find the mind of the Lord.
We cherish the blessing of being able to educate our children at home so the thought of sending him to an institution where ungodliness prevails is difficult to accept.
So that’s where we’re at now.
Seth has been moving forward with testing, etc. and I’ll share about that next time.
To be continued…
Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments
3 Comments
Arby
To college! There is plenty of time to start a home building business (although Dave Ramsey recommends during these housing market times that it is better to start a home remodelling business first and move up into home building when the market improves) in the future. Why not have a well educated workforce, especially a son with an engineering degree? Of course, I don't know if those ideas match God's plan for your son, but I thought I'd share.
billberna
Would it be possible for him to be a commuter student to a local university and study engineering? The engineering profession has been very fruitful for our Christian family. My dh is an engineer and his income allows me to stay at home and homeschool our children. There will probably be a good engineering future in the area of energy. One excellent Christian college that has an engineering program is Grove City College in Grove City, PA. I know that is so far from you, but you might want to research them anyway. It is such a big decision. Thankfully, his life is in the Lord's hands no matter what he chooses. Blessings, Violin Mom in FLA http://violinkids.blogspot.com
lindafay
I have been reading and enjoying your last several posts. This particular post encouraged me. My daughter doesn't know what she wants to do (except save the world) and I have wondered what I should do. My feelings about university are the same as yours. I've just left it in God's hands. You've encouraged me to continue to do so.
I feel like we are also living in Timbuck2. We are out in the middle of NOWHERE. I planned to post about what we are doing with the goats. Just didn't want to bore my readers who may want to hear about homeschooling only. We hoped to plant fruit trees and supplement my husband's income but learned our soil doesn't drain well so he is focusing his energy on raising meat goats. Boer. He had goats as a child and knows quite a bit about them. I don't know anything. I'm learning how to be a farm'n wife. Didn't you all have a pecan orchard?